Southampton are ‘interested’ in an audacious move for a Manchester United player who faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford.
Russell Martin has already welcomed four players to his Southampton ranks this summer, with Adam Lallana, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Charlie Taylor and Ronnie Edwards all arriving on permanent deals.
With the imminent return to the Premier League, the Saints boss is in no mood to stop there, though, and looks set to continue to try and build a squad capable of top flight survival.
With Lallana and Taylor both providing vital Premier League experience for free and Edwards arriving for just £3 million, Southampton can start to focus on targets who will cost a little more as they look to add players to take the club to the next level.
That appears to have taken them to Manchester United, with Southampton eyeing a move for Scott McTominay.
Southampton ‘interested’ in Manchester United’s Scott McTominay
Southampton’s main priority in midfield is the signing of West Ham United’s Flynn Downes after the 25-year-old excelled on loan at St Mary’s last season.
However, Downes alone is unlikely to be considered enough, especially with the departure of out-of-contract Stuart Armstrong.
With that in mind, Southampton have been reported as one of a number of Premier League clubs exploring the possibility of signing McTominay.
That is according to Manchester World, who report that United are ‘willing to sell’ the Scotland international this summer to raise funds.
Fulham are named as the club with the strongest interest at this stage, while ‘Southampton, Newcastle United and West Ham United are also interested’.
Southampton target McTominay compared to David Beckham
West Ham were interested in a move for the 27-year-old last summer and had a £30 million bid rejected by the Red Devils.
The Manchester club valued McTominay at £40 million at the time, so it is likely that valuation will need to have dropped significantly for Southampton to make a move.
McTominay has found himself largely out of favour under Erik ten Hag despite his goals from the bench constantly bailing out the Dutch manager and could seek an exit this summer to become a regular starter.
Legendary former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson knows McTominay well, with the pair first meeting when the midfielder was just five.
Ferguson is a fan of McTominay and spoke on the United man to the Scottish FA in 2021, where he said: “Scott McTominay is now emerging as one of Man United’s big players.
“When you watch Man United pick their team for a big game, McTominay’s name is in it. He’s a good character, a great trainer.”
He went on to compare McTominay to David Beckham, saying: “Scott was a wee bit like David Beckham. When he joined us, he was just a wee small lad and then, all of a sudden, whoosh, he just shot up.
“David didn’t even get into our youth team the year we won the FA Youth Cup until the semi-final.
“It’s a growing thing. Paul Scholes was just a small lad, but he sprouted up to 5ft 8in, the height he is now. Scott was a skelf of a boy, then he sprouted when he became an apprentice.”
Whilst McTominay’s career has not quite hit the lofty heights of Beckham’s, he would be a real coup for Southampton if they could find a way to make a deal happen.
